DOM Quotes, Critics

Question 1

“Why should only I, of all ___ of the ___ be cased up like a ___ ___?”

Answer 1

“**Why should I of all princes of the world be cased up like a holy relic?” - Duchess 3.2 **

Themes: Power, Gender & Patriarchy

Sees herself to embody masculine authority - has political power being Duchess

Connotes religious object to be worshipped - wants active role in society rather than being passively objectified - challenging & subverting , threatenin hierarchical systems designed to control women

Question 2

“Whether I am ____ to live or to die, I can do _ like a _ ”

Answer 2

“Whether I am doomed to live or to die i shall do both like a prince” - Duchess 3.2 (when F discovers her secret)

Themes: Gender, Death

Responds unafraid - tragic heroine (defiant & noble)

Simile - holds onto masculine power she has

Question 3

“Why might I not marry? I have not gone about this to create a ___ __ _____”

Answer 3

**“Why might i not marry? I have not gone about this to create a new world custom.” - Duchess 3.2 **

Themes: Gender

Rhetorical question - questioning enforced submission (defiance). Jacobean audience: she is trying to change world customs as a woman (forbidden, taking on leadership/political roles) - marrying Antonio without permission from family, avoiding femme couverture

Question 4

Hellen ___ “It is essentially a ____ play ____ a woman ____ for her _____”

Answer 4

Hellen Mirren: “It is essentially a feminist play about a woman fighting for her autonomy”

Question 5

“Pray sir, ___ ___”
“I am married. ____ ___ to your ____”

Answer 5

“Pray, sir, hear me.” “I am married. Happily not to your liking” - Duchess 3.2

Themes: Gender & Patriarchy

Declaritives - statement of facts, acknowledges her marriage isnt what F wants = defiant

Question 6

“That are witches”

Answer 6

• Ferdinand 3.2

Themes: Gender

Motif - witches in revenge tragedy = unruly women (referring to Duchess as unruly)

King James Daemonology

Question 7

[Ferdinand] [offers money]
“___ throat must I ___?”

Answer 7

“Whose throat must I cut?” - Bosola 1.2

Themes: Corruption

Once paid, he’s happy to engage in corruption - quick to be part of violence = malcontent

Question 8

How is Bosola malcontent?

Answer 8

he criticises the corruption around him & expresses dissatisfaction with society, but also participates in the same corruption

Question 9

What is malcontent?

Answer 9

a character who is disillusioned & dissatisfied with society, criticising it

Question 10

Where and when was DOM first performed?

Answer 10

Blackfriars Theatre 1613

Question 11

Norton “Revenge tragedies.. represent _____ as powerful and ____ and explore the _____ and ______ forces which oppress them”

Answer 11

Norton: “Revenge tragedies… represent women as powerful and independent and explore the social and cultural forces which oppress them”

Question 12

Norton: “key character type in revenge tragedy is the malcontent. they are ___,_____ and _______ figures whose _____ is difficult to __ __”

Answer 12

Norton: “key character type in revenge tragedy is the malcontent. They are outsiders, alienated and ambivalent figures whose motivation is difficult to pin down”

Question 13

“__ ____ de presenti, is absolute ____”

Answer 13

“Per verba de presenti, is absolute marriage” - Duchess1.2

Themes: Power, Gender

Latin langauge - term in canon law - Elizabethan & Jacobean court recognised as a marriage the simple declaration by a couple, that they were man & wife even without witness/religious ceremony - D indulges in this despite worries surrounding it = powerful

Question 14

____: Duchess as a “female Christ”

Answer 14

Dalleaded - sacrificing her safety = power

Question 15

“____, lusty ____!”

Answer 15

“Farewell, lusty widow!” - Ferdinand 1.2

Theme: Desire

Epithet portrays repressed sexual desire

Question 16

Ferdinand refers to the Duchess as a “_____ strumpet”

Answer 16

“Notorious strumpet” 2.5

women who had many sexual encounters & promiscuous - thinking about D in sexual terms

Question 17

“The howling wolf”

Answer 17

-Ferdinand 3,2

Growing into madness - lycanthrope foreshadows his extreme hysteria

Question 18

_____-House “a modern ______ reading may well see F’s ________ on a Freudian level ie as a _____ of a deep rooted _____ problem”

Answer 18

Bernhardt-House “a modern psychological reading may well see F’s lycanthropia on a Freudian level ie as a manifestation of a deep rooted sexual problem”

Question 19

“___ not your whores _____ that shall quench __ ____ but your whores blood”

Answer 19

“Tis not your whores milk that will quench my wildfire but your whores blood” - Ferdinand 2.5

Themes: Desire

repetition of epithet ‘whore’ - thinking of D in violent sexual terms = sadistic

Question 20

2014 Globe Production - F kisses D forcibly

Answer 20

Open with his desire & acts upon his taboo hysteria , growing into madness & becoming unhinged

Question 21

“I am going into __ ____”

Answer 21

“I am going into a wilderness” - Duchess 1.2

Themes: Power, Gender

Metaphor “wilderness” - symbolising the dangerous, uncharted territory of secret marriage to Antonio that subverts - asserts autonomy despite risks (societal rejection and defiance of patriarchy)
= unafraid woman to pursuit in her desires.

Question 22

“___ can the ____ force more?”

Answer 22

“What can the church force more?” - Duchess 1.2 after marriage is done

Themes: Power, Patriarchy, Religion

Challenges the Church’s power over her marriage - defiance: marrying Antonio is a more binding than any religious institution - Rhetorical Q subverts trad gender expectations & religious authority = rejection of patriarchal control over her autonomy.

Question 23

The Globe Theatre’s 2014 production implies Duchess’s unruliness by portraying her openly & passionately..

Answer 23

.. kissing Antonio on stage

bold display of sexual agency that defied societal norms of the Jacobean era as it’s being initiated by the woman rather than the man.

Themes: Power, Gender & patriarchy

Question 24

“___, be confident”

Answer 24

“Sir, be confident” - Duchess 1.2

Themes: Power, Gender & Patriarchy

Imperative - positions her as the decision-maker in marriage = subverting traditional gender roles where men are typically dominant.

Question 25

[___ him her ___] [___ the ___ on his finger]

Answer 25

[Gives him her ring] [Puts the ring on his finger] - Duchess 1.2

Themes: Power, Gender

Stagecraft - reverses typical gender roles in a marriage ceremony, symbolising her dominance and authority in relationship - control over her marriage and life choices.

Question 26

“This was my father’s ___.. I’d be ____ to see’t look ___”

Answer 26

“This was my father’s poniard.. I’d be loath to see’t look rusty” - Ferdinand 1.2

Themes: Power,

Implied threat of violence, symbolising potential consequences of the Duchess’s defiance.
Dagger = symbolises patriarchal oppression - despite implied danger, she marries Antonio in secret, demonstrating courage and willingness to sacrifice her safety for love and autonomy.